Life-raft.



B. W. SEELY.

LIFE RAFT.

APPLICATION FILED JUMZG. lets.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

2 SHEETS-*SHEET 1'.

B. W. SEELY.

LIFE RAFT.

APPLICATION FILED mums. m5.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

2 SHEEN-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

BENJAMIN W. SEELY, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA.

- LIFE-RAFT.

' To all whom it may conceo n Be it known that I, BENJAMIN W. SEELY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Pensacola, in the county ofEscambia and State of Florida, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Life-Rafts; and I do hereby declare the following to bea, full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to life saving apparatus for use at sea, and moreparticularly to an inflatable life raft, which is normally carried bythe ship in a deflated state, for occupying a minimum amount of spaceaboard the ship or vessel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a housing openingoverboard of the ship, which retains the inflatable or pneumatic liferaft when in a deflated position, and to connect one end of the liferaft to inflating means, so that when the raft is inflated, it will begradually forced out of its housing and overboard into the sea, and alsoto provide means for releasing the inflatable body from connection withits housanother object of this invention is to attach a plurality ofropes to the sides of the inflated body of the raft, which ropes sagfrom one point of connection to the other, and have their ends hangingfree, so that persons may cling to the ropes, or if it is desired, hooksmay be connected to the ordinary type of life saving belts forattachment to the ropes, and further to reinforce the inflatable body,against liability of rupture, by a mesh-work for encompassing the same.a

With the foregoing and other objectsin view this invention consists insuch novel features of construction, combination and arrangement ofparts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like andcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1is a fragmentary view of a ship, showing the life raft carried thereby,Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the raft being inflated andpartially forced from its housing, Fig. 3 is a side elevationSpecification of Letters Patent. Patented No 14 1916 Application filedJune 26, 1915. Serial No. 36,441..

"ings, 1 designates a ship or vessel of any desiredtype. The vessel 1has a housing 2 carrled thereby, in any suitable location,

which housing has one end opening overboard of the ship or vessel. Thehousing 2 1s provided for containing or housing an inflatable life raftindicated at 3.. The raft 3 is composed of any suitable type ofmaterial, and normally lies in a deflated state within the housing 2.

The body 4 of the life raft 3, has a check valve, indicated genericallyat 5 associated therewith, which controls the inflation and deflation ofthe body. The check valve 5 has a collar 6 carried thereby, which collaris adapted for screwthreadable engagement with a collar 7. The collar 7has a shank 8 formed thereon and extending rearwardly therefrom. Thecollar 7 and shank 8 are rotatably mounted upon the pipe 9, whichsupplies the air for inflating the body 4. A handle 10 is connected tothe shank 8 and is provided for rotating the shank 8 and the collar 7for disconnecting the collars 6 and 7 so as to permit the inflatablelife raft 3 to pass out of thehousing 2, and be entirely free from anyconnection therewith.

The pipe 9 communicates with an air storage tank, indicated at 11, whichtank with reinforcing rings 14, which extend laterally about the same.The rings 14 have ropes 15 attached thereto, which ropes extend from onereinforcing ring to the other, hanging slack, as is shown at 16, betweeneach of the rings. The ends of the ropes, as shown at 17 hang downwardlyfrom their point of connection with the rings, and are free, so as toprovide means for persons conveniently gripping them. The forward end ofthe body 4 of the raft, has a ring 18 secured thereto, to which a "cable19 is attached. The rope or cable 19 is also connected in any suitablemanner to the vessel 1, or it may be connected to the housing 2, asdesired. The cable 19 is provided for towing the raft rearwardly oralong side the vessel, until it is desired to cut it free or cast it offfrom connec ion with the vessel. In Fig. 5 of the drawings, a modifiedform of the life raft is shown, wherein the infiatable body 20 iscovered with a meshwork or net indicated at 21, for reinforcing the sameand eliminating the liability of rupture of the body.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings the advantages of construction and of the method of operationof the improved life raft will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art to which this invention appertains and, while in the foregoingdescription, the principle of the operation of this invention has beendescribed together with various features of construction, it is to beunder stood that certain minor features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts may be altered to suit practical conditionsprovided such alterations are comprehousing. 1

hended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is-:

In a device of the character described comprising a cylindrical housingsecured to a vessel and rovided with one of its ends closed, aninflatable life raft positioned within-the housing, a check valvesecured to one end of the life raft, an externally screwthreaded collarformed on the free end of the check valve, an air supply pipe extend- Intestimony whereof in presence of two Witnesses.

BENJAMIN W. SEELY.

Witnesses:

SIDNEY BELL, LONNIE FILLINGIM.

I aflix my signature

